This is the story of Claire (Minerva) McGonagall and Henry Urquhart when they are at Hogwarts. I've changed dates so they begin attending the school in 1949, in the middle of the first wizarding war and the beginning of World War II (Yes I know the dates are mixed up, just roll with it).
-HGU-
When Henry first laid eyes on the train, he was shocked, all the stories his mother had told him made him envision this massive, ruby train that stretched on for miles. Instead, what he saw was a two car train that looked like it had seen better days, there was nothing magical about it whatsoever. There were people around him on the platform, but it wasn't elbow to elbow like his mother used to tell him it would be. Most of the people around him looked older, bigger, taller, he was probably the shortest person there. Sighing, Henry grabbed the handle of his trunk and pulled it over to the car. After a few minutes of struggling to pull his luggage up the stairs, he succeeded and he headed off to find a compartment to sit in.
As he walked down the aisle, he looked through every window to try and find an empty compartment, or at least on with someone closer to his age. Unfortunately for him however, every compartment was either already full, or had a few older kids who didn't look very nice. As he neared the front of the train, and thus the end of the last few compartments, he was ready to resign to the fact that he would have to wait the ride out in the hall when he reached the very last compartment. Much to his surprise, it was empty, except for one girl who was sitting in the corner, curled up next to the window with a book in her lap. Hesitantly, Henry reached up and knocked on the door, inside the girl jumped slightly before she looked at him and offered a half smile. Taking that as a sign, Henry pushed open the door and stepped in.
"Mind if I join you, everywhere else is full," the girl nodded and he stepped all the way into the compartment, pulling his trunk with him. He could feel her eyes on him the entire time he was pulling his trunk up on the rack, it wasn't until he sat down across from her that she turned back to her book. "The names Henry, by the way, I'm a first year."
"Clarion," her voice was quiet and gentle, he noticed, like a song, "but everyone calls me Claire."
"Clarion," he tried it, the name seemed to roll off his tongue in just the right way. "I like it." He saw her cheeks go slightly pink but she said nothing. She was reading again and Henry continued to take in her appearance. Despite the fact that she was in a sort of ball shape, he could tell she was small, much smaller than him and he only rose to four foot eight inches. She had raven colored hair that was in a braid down her back and her pale skin seemed to shine in the light. It didn't seem to have any blemishes whatsoever except for one scar on her cheek that started by her right ear, curved out onto her cheek and then curved back to the corner of her jaw bone. The scar continued down the side of her neck until it disappeared beneath the collar of her blue button up blouse. Her shirt was tucked into a black skirt that hung to her knees and she wore a pair of black flats that had a buckle across her ankle. She was definitely a muggleborn. He knew that the muggles' fashion was years behind their own, meaning that they were in the transition period from full length everything too much shorter measurements.
Henry's musing was interrupted by a knock at the door, and he noticed that Clarion jumped again. Outside the door was a middle aged woman with a warm smile. She slid open the door before either of them said anything and revealed a fully stocked cart full of candy and other sweets.
"Anything off the trolley dears?" The woman asked.
"No thank you," was Clarion's quick reply.
"Oh come on, you have to try something," Henry cried. He looked at the cart for a moment before he began to order. "We'll take four chocolate frogs, a Berttie Bott's, a bag of cockroach clusters, a pumpkin pasty, a sugar quill, and a treacle treat." The trolley witch grabbed everything he asked for as she totaled up the sum.
"Twenty eight knuts please," Henry handed her a silver sickle.
"You can just keep the extra knut." The trolley witch nodded and pulled the compartment door shut. Henry redirected his attention back to Clarion who was staring at the pile of sweets with wide eyes. "Alright, lets see, you need to try Bertie Bott's first because those sometimes have a nasty after taste." He opened the container and pushed the beans around until he found a bright green one that he was almost certain was grass flavored. "Here," he offered the bean. "That one should be grass flavored." Clarion made a face but accepted the bean. "Trust me, it's one of the safe ones," he offers. Clarion nods and pops the jelly bean into her mouth. After a moment, the surprise is clearly written on her face.
"That's actually kind of good," she offers quietly. Henry nods.
"Just be glad you didn't get rotten egg on your first go," Clarion made a face and Henry couldn't help but laugh. "Cockroach clusters next?" Clarion nods, albeit apprehensively. "They taste life crunchy peanuts he assured her. She accepted the candy and bit into it. The resounding crunch made her make a face.
"It's the sound," she stated, "it sounds gross." Henry nods to agree.
"Well, let's move on to treacle treats, taste like a carmely gingerbread," he offered. Clarion broke off a piece and stuck it in her mouth and a smile appeared on her face.
"I like those."
"Well, you can have it, I'm not a big fan of them myself," Henry handed her the rest of the treat before he reached for the pumpkin pasty. "Now these on the other hand," he broke off a piece for Clarion before he popped another piece into his mouth. Clarion tried it, but it was clear she was not a fan.
"You can keep that one," she declares as she breaks off another piece of the treacle treat to eat.
"Fair enough, sugar quill, they're pure sugar."
"I think I'll pass," Clarion laughed softly.
"Right, then we get to chocolate frogs, now I warn you, they jump," he warns her as he hands her the box. He grabbed his own and opened it, quickly grabbing the frog and popping it into his mouth. Clarion copied him and managed to eat the frog with little difficulty. "Now, you check to see who you got," Henry instructed. "I got Dippet again."
"I got Artemisia Lufkin."
"Ah, the first female Minister of Magic," Henry explains. "She's pretty rare, best hold on to her." Clarion nodded and slid the card into her pocket. "Oh, here," Henry holds out his own card. "I already have him, so I might as well contribute to your collection. Clarion smiles and accepts the card before the compartment falls into a comfortable silence for the remainder of the trip.
-APWBD-
He was late. He was very late. The minister had scheduled a meeting at the last second and pulled him from Hogwarts to make plans about Gellert Grindelwald's capture. Albus already knew that it would be another failed mission that would result in more casualties for both sides. But that didn't matter now, what mattered more was the fact that the students should be arriving at Hogwarts within the hour and the minister showed no signs of being finished.
"Minister," Albus rises out of his seat, interrupting another monologue that the minister was delivering to the room. "You must excuse me." Without waiting for a reply, Albus left the room and went off to find a floo. Most people with floo's on this floor are in the room he just left, except for one person. He knows for a fact that Alastor Moody, the head of the auror department. The man though the meetings were, in his word 'a stupid waste of time' and Albus new the auror would be in his office. And he was. A quick conversation later, Albus found himself talking to Armando Dippet through Alastors floo.
"It's quite alright Albus," Armando assured him. "Things come up, I have Téa do the sorting, just get back when you can."
"Thank you Armando, I'll try and duck out of here within the hour. If I'm not back by morning though, I beg of you, send a search party." Albus jokes.
"Will do Albus, take care." Albus withdrew his head from the fire and turned to face his long time friend.
"Do you think they would notice if I didn't return?" Albus wondered aloud.
"Pretty sure they would go on lock down for the ministers golden boy," Alastor snorted without looking up from his report.
"Damn," Albus muttered. "Well, I'd better head back then," he muttered as he pushed himself from the floor. "Thanks again Alastor."
"Anytime," Moody replied. Albus nodded and moved to the door, he's hand was on the handle and he was half way out the door before Moody spoke again. "The McGonagall girl should start at Hogwarts this year," he commented idely. Albus nodded to himself before he pulled the door shut behind him.
-GFMD-
Galatea Merrythought-Dippet prided herself on being organized. Her files were all in order, her lesson plans stored away to be pulled out in a moment's notice. Her student files were carefully ordered so she had easy access. Her last students had graduated last year, leaving her house empty. They had sent out over a hundred letters inviting students to come to Hogwarts, but they wouldn't know how many would show up until the sorting.
"Come in," Galatea called out when she heard the knock at her office door. She had her back to the door, but she heard the door open and shut. She then heard the footsteps of her visitor cross the room until they were standing behind her. Her husband's arms snaked their way around her middle and came to rest on her abdomen.
"Albus is stuck at the ministry," Armando Dippet muttered into his wife's ear.
"You know, pretty soon they're just going to have to hire him," Téa mused.
"Don't even joke about it," Armando groaned.
"Come on," Téa twisted out of her husband's grasp and moved towards the door. "They train will be arriving in half an hour." She held out her hand for him, but he didn't move, his eyes stayed trained on the horizon.
"When will it be enough," he asked quietly. "When will enough children have died for them to realize what they are doing is wrong?"
"I don't know, my love. I don't know."
-CGM-
Clarion had finished her book when they were just over three quarters of the way to the school. The trolley lady had stopped by to see how they were holding up about twenty minutes ago and she's suggested that they get changed into their robes as they would be arriving shortly. For the past few minutes, the scenery around them had begun to slow as they neared the station, she could hear other students moving around in the hallway, the banging of trunks and the shouts of friends.
"I'd reckon we'd better head out," Henry stated as he rose from his seat and began to take down his trunk.
"You don't have to do that."
"Pardon?"
"The house elves come and get the luggage and take it directly to your room," she explained.
Henry nodded.
"That makes sense." The pair fall into silence again as Henry takes the lead and heads into the hallway right as the train finally halts. All around them, people are pushing and shoving to try and get off the train. Clarion didn't think that it could be so crowded with the miniscule amount of people on the train, but it was. She felt someone grab her hand and pull her through the crowd, before she could even wrap her head around getting off the train, she was standing on the platform with Henry beside her and the scarlet engine behind her.
"First years, first years over here!" A booming voice called from off to their right.
"I suppose that's where we go then," Henry mused out loud. Clarion shrugged and they set off to find the owner of the voice. The man kept calling and they soon found themselves in front of a larger man, dressed in what could only be described as butchers clothes, carrying a lantern.
"You first years?" The man asked. Clarion and Henry both nodded. "Right, well I'm Ogg, the groundskeeper here at Hogwarts, I'll be taking you up to the castle in a moment." The man continued to scan the platform as it quickly emptied, soon enough, the three of them were the only ones standing on the platform. "I guess it's just the two of you then, follow me." Ogg turned and began to lead them off in the opposite direction of everyone else. Henry and Clarion glanced at each other before they jogged after the groundskeeper. They silently followed Ogg down a winding staircase that let out at the side of the lake where a series of boats lay on the shore. "Well, hop in your two." Clarion heard Henry gulp beside her and she gently nudged him forward. The two climbed into the boat and Clarion captured his hand in hers, squeezing it gently as the boats lurched from the shore. When she glanced over, she saw that he had his eyes shut tightly. Looking back ahead, she figured he could stay that way for a little while longer.
"You might want to open your eyes now," she whispered as the castle came into view. She heard his gasp as his eyes took in the sight. Despite the war raging on everywhere else, Hogwarts still stood as proud and magnificent as the day it was built. Much too soon, the boats arrived at the doc and Henry helped her out of the boat.
"Are you ready?" He asked quietly. She nodded and together they entered the school for the first time.
-TMR-
Tom Riddle was ready to leave this place, he had been ready to leave since his first year. It made him angry, they way that the teachers talked down to him, the way Dumbledore talked down to him. It pissed him off that they all thought they were better than him. And currents, a third year Hufflepuff Myrtle Warren. She would not shut up. It was like she had no off switch and it was taking all his might to not throw her out of the carriage and onto the side of the road. He had one more year of this torture, and he was going to go out with a bang, not that anyone would know. No, everyone would think that the fourth year, half giant, Gryffindor student named Rubeus Hagrid would be to blame. He already had the perfect plan, and it was all written down in his small, black, leather bound journal.